


I Am Newt

by belovedbey



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Cinnamon Roll Newt Scamander, Fluff, M/M, Protective Original Percival Graves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-11
Updated: 2019-06-11
Packaged: 2020-04-24 12:26:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19173256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/belovedbey/pseuds/belovedbey
Summary: Seraphina orders Director Graves and his team of Aurors out on a special case.





	I Am Newt

Percival shuffled through the many papers littering his desk, eyes skimming over the words on each of them to see if any caught his attention, but to no avail. Fingers digging into his temples, he rubbed them in circles to try and relieve the forming migraine from sitting there for over seven hours; the Department of Magical Law Enforcement was running slow and they hadn’t had anything important to deal with in over a week, leaving everyone to do routine paperwork that didn’t leave much to the imagination. Lowering one arm, he grabbed the mug of coffee--his fifth one that day--and sipped the scalding liquid, not even grimacing as it burned his throat on the way down. This sight was quite humorous, for the black mug he sipped from had the words WORLD’S BEST BOSS written on the front in white font, not matching the stoic man behind them whatsoever. One of his Aurors had jokingly gifted him the mug on his birthday a few years previous and Percival first used it to invoke surprise in the Auror, and it stuck ever since then

Just as he was about to settle in going through a report one of his workers submitted earlier that morning, an urgent knock on his office door met his ears and he blew a hot breath from his mouth, putting the mug back on his desk with haste. “Come in,” he permitted, loud enough for whoever was on the other side to hear. As he listened to the doorknob twist and the door swing open, he took the mess of papers and made to order them in some way, but he gave up and just stacked them randomly, already thinking of the troubles he’d have later if he needed to acquire a specific paper. Looking to see who came to visit him, he was a bit surprised to find the President walking toward his desk, but he remained in-the-element as the blue-robed woman began speaking to him. “We’ve received reports of a group of wildlife traffickers that I want you and your Aurors to investigate.”

“Where?” He asked immediately after, eager to finally have something to do. Seraphina smiled.

“Have you really been that bored, Percival?” He only released an indignant huff, giving her a look of pure impatience. “We think they’ve made camp in Central Park,” she further explained after a moment of silence. Percival furrowed his eyebrows at this.

“Central Park? Shouldn’t we have noticed them sooner if they were in such a public area?”

“Apparently not. We only received knowledge of anything after a No-Maj reported to the police that there was a merman in the Lake.” Blinking repeatedly, astonished at this information, Percival had to silently process this information for a minute.

“A… merman? In the Lake? Of Central Park?”

“Yes, I believe that’s what the head of police informed me,” she affirmed, folding her arms across her waist. “I trust you can fix this situation.” The man flashed a smile at her at this.

“Now is there anyone else you would trust, Seraphina?” Sighing half-heartedly, she gave him a faux-tired expression. 

“I suppose not. Now get to it, Director.”

***

The shift from summer to autumn had begun in New York City, bringing with it cooler temperatures and a yellow tint to some of the leaves on the trees, though Percival spent no time observing these changes as he strode along a pathway that cut through the grass in Central Park. He didn’t often visit the expanse of greenery, but he could appreciate it for what it was; it was something that emanated calm in a city so hectic. Percival, along with six other Aurors, were all coming upon Sheep Meadow from different angles, hoping that they would be able to surround the traffickers inconspicuously. After surveying all of the other large expanses of grass where a hideout could be built, they found nothing, which was what led them to this one.

Since all of them cast disillusionment charms on themselves, Percival was able to withdraw his wand and cast spells to detect any concealment charms without drawing the attention of the No-Majs that milled around him who were, oddly, not even glancing at the meadow. He knew that people enjoyed stopping to watch the placid sheep graze--he didn’t know why; perhaps it helped in calming themselves, but he preferred other methods of doing so; ones that didn’t involve watching animals eat grass--and not even one person so much as inclined their head in the direction of them. Sure enough, the spell came back positive with as many as fifty concealment charms placed all around the area and he smiled to himself, expression akin to that of a predator stalking its prey. “Got you.”

Not long after, the secret camp was emptied of all the perpetrators, who were sent to MACUSA to be held within cells before their interrogations that Percival would have to direct later. Now though, he and the Aurors had a bigger problem on their hands; all of the creatures the traffickers were harboring had been in cramped cages or trunks, except one: the merman in the Lake not far from the meadow. The still surface of the water remained undisturbed as their eyes scoured the premises for any signs of movement, and Percival heard one of his workers sigh from behind him. “How on Earth are we going to coax it out?”

“Well, if it’s in any similar state as the others, I’d say we could coax it out with--”

“Food,” Percival finished for Auror Goldstein, turning to her at this idea. “Retrieve some kind of fish. It doesn’t matter what kind, just get some from somewhere. A good amount of it.” She nodded quickly at his demanding tone before disapparating on the spot with a sharp crack.

“Boss, what do you want us to do?” 

“The rest of you, prepare the area by casting anti-No-Maj charms. We don’t need the whole of New York to find out that we’re fishing a merman from the Lake.” The remaining five set out do just that, walking the perimeter of the body of water whilst muttering the spells under their breaths. Kneeling upon the damp grass, Percival let his fingers dip into the water and frowned as the cool liquid rippled around them; the temperature of the water, depending on what kind of mer species the man originated from, could be awfully cold for the poor creature. He had never encountered a merperson in real life, but he could recall certain facts about them from his years in school, which was how he knew to send Auror Goldstein for the fish. When he heard the crack marking her return, he stood and turned to face her, taking the metal bucket from her right arm which was filled to the brim with orange meat.

“It’s salmon, Sir. It’s what they had in the kitchen.” Too focused to thank her, he resumed his kneeling position without a word and drew a piece of the slimy grub from the bucket. Reeling his arm back, he threw the meat a good distance to the middle of the lake, restraining thinking about how gross the fish felt, for he’d encountered worse in his line of work many a time. The raw fish bobbed atop the water and each of the Aurors had turned, silent with anticipation to see what would happen. For what had to be ten minutes, the fish just floated, completely still amid the tense atmosphere. Percival nearly stood from the frustration building within him, but out of the blue, a pale hand shot up and dragged the fish beneath the surface so fast, he was thankful he hadn’t blinked. Auror Goldstein, who had taken a similar kneeling position beside him, gasped at this.

Determination heightened, Percival dug his hand into the bucket and launched another piece into the water, this time a few feet closer to them. It only took half the amount of time for the hand to return and to take its prize, and this game continued; Percival throwing the meat closer and closer until the hand returned rapid-fire for it. How starved is it? He wondered. He still couldn’t see the creature through the murky water and he was growing curious as to what it looked like. When it got close enough, Percival merely held the fish a foot above the water, watching and waiting to see if it would emerge. The wait lengthened, but Percival kept still, not even daring to move the slightest of an inch when the head of the creature slowly broke the surface, its deep blue eyes anxiously studying him through the red hair plastered down by the water. The sapphirical hue of his eyes were inhuman, and Percival found them breathtaking.

The poor thing looked so scared of him, Percival felt his heart clench as he didn’t rise any further above the water, just worriedly glancing between him and Auror Goldstein. “It’s okay. We won’t hurt you.” To try to further prove this, he lowered his hand to give him the salmon, but the mer flinched away, nearly submerging itself again. Stopping his movements right away, he held still, allowing the mer to make his advancement at the pace at which he was comfortable. When he tentatively took the fish, he made sure that his hand didn’t touch Percival’s, but now he uncovered himself to just below his chin and Percival had a hard time preserving his composure at the mer’s allure; enough to not even grimace as he tore into the piece of fish. When he finished, his tongue popped out of his mouth to lick at his delightfully pink lips and Percival’s eyes followed the movement. Auror Goldstein sharply elbowed him in the ribs when she noticed his expression, bringing him back to the problem at hand. Now is not the time for that.

“We have your captors in custody,” Percival told him, watching the torrent of emotions flutter across his face. “Would you come with us? We can get you back to full health and take you home.” A warm smile lifted the corners of the mer’s mouth.

“Home,” he said in a sigh, and Percival nearly sighed with him. His voice was light and angelic, and he wondered if anything about the mer wasn’t ethereal. A breeze rustled the air, making the mer shiver in the same way the leaves in the trees did, proving Percival’s earlier testament about the water temperature.

“What is your name?” Percival found himself asking even though this didn’t pertain to their job.

“I am Newt.”


End file.
